DULUTH, Ga. — Police body camera shows the moment a bystander jumped into action to pull an overheated dog from the back of a luxury SUV.
It happened on a hot July day at the LA Fitness gym off Peachtree Industrial Boulevard in Duluth.
According to a police report, an officer responded around 12:30 p.m. July 17 to the gym after getting reports of an animal being locked inside a car.
The report said a man noticed something moving around in the back of a white Porsche SUV as he was getting out of his van. The man saw it was a dog and immediately started looking for help. The report said he spotted a fire engine parked next to an adjacent Kroger, so he went inside and flagged down the firefighters, who called police.
When the officer got there, he said a crowd of people - including Gwinnett Fire Rescue crews - were already there standing around the Porsche.
Fire crews were trying to get inside the car, and when they finally opened the hatch of the vehicle, they saw a brown shaggy dog who was panting with its mouth wide open with thick, foamy saliva dripping.
The police report says a bystander grabbed the dog and put him into his car and rushed the animal to the Banfield Animal Hospital. Body camera video captured the rescue. (Click here to watch.)
The officer tried to contact the owner of the car, but was initially unable to, according to the report. He went inside the gym to ask around, and while standing at the reception desk, he said he spotted a man in his 20s running toward the front door muttering something about a dog.
The officer followed the man outside where he reportedly saw the man looking into the back of the same Porsche. The officer approached him and started asking questions.
The report says the man told the officer he forgot the dog, which belong to his roommate, was in the back of the car when he went into the gym. He reportedly told the officer he was in there for 30 minutes before he remembered and rushed outside to check on the dog. The officer noted that the outside air temperature at the time was around 96 degrees.
Meanwhile, veterinary staff worked to cool the dog, who they said had an internal temperature of a staggering 109.5. Video from the officer's body camera shows the dog yelping while staff wrapped it with ice packs. Officials gave the dog fluids and said it will pull through, after spending several hours at the vet.
Meanwhile, the owner of the Porsche was cited for cruelty to animals. He is set to appear before a judge in September.
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